This project is inspired by years of nurture and ministry in the church upon which the study focuses. The approach employs numerous disciplines in the service of a project that exposes data of the religious life, including what subjects have to say about themselves. It then goes on to re-sketch lines of continuity with the larger church. Although the group at the focus of the study is not large by comparison, it belongs to one of the fastest growing families of the church. With roots going back into the historic African American Church, it offers a window into early growth, the development of crucial theological positions, institutional development within the American Church of the twentieth century, and emerging patterns for worldwide Christianity in the twenty-first century.

The struggle within this project is against a background of misunderstanding. Given the pejorative biases in earlier studies against African American Christianity in general, and Holiness-Pentecostalism in particular, a contest is under way for placement within the appropriate taxonomy. Rather than representing a sect or cult located outside the Christian Family, the quest is to introduce a family member. But the price to be paid is not that of valorized history. Neither is there an attempt to construct orthodoxy of experience. Rather, the purpose is to grant access to the tissue, texture, and ligaments of a living, breathing organism. What one finds are antecedents for what is present in some of the most vital contemporary movements. Such engagement supplies splendid occasion for meaningful internal critique.

Methodologically speaking, this project may be compared to that of the anthropologist who did field study among the Dogon of West Africa. On the last day of his intended stay the blind griot he had been questioning decided to trust him and divulge the sacred wisdom. Upon hearing the disclosures, the scholar discarded his notes in favor of what the griot revealed. This study seeks to strike the balance between the benefits of critical study and the unfettered disclosure of the Wise Ones.

William C. Turner, Jr. is associate professor for the practice of Homiletics at Duke University Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. He teaches courses in preaching, theology, and ministry. His scholarly interests are focused by pneumatology and black church studies, with emphasis on liberation and social justice as crucial factors. Turner currently serves as pastor of Mt. Level Missionary Baptist Church. He is a husband and father of four adult children.